Hey guys
i'm new here so first off: hi! nice to meet you all
I own a 1995 tigra 1.4 - it has a bit of a sad story! When I bought the car I had never even sat in a drivers seat before, let alone drive any car. I came to driving late and I was 24 when I bought this.
My boss was selling it and I had been thinking of driving for a long time. I trust my boss completely so wasnt afraid of getting ripped off and he offered me a superb deal: £700 split up into 3 installments. The car came with aftermarket alloys (cost about 700 new in the first place), a silly-but-fun large exhaust, a £300 when-new blaplunkt stereo, lexus lights and a few other bits and bobs - so I couldnt say no! I bought it and took up driving lessons soon after.
Anyway, in the mean time I didnt want it to sit unused because I knew that was bad for it. So I allowed my friend to be insured on it and use it for work and university which really helped him out. However, he hasnt had the best of luck. The first accident came when he rushed into the car out of the rain, started it up and slipped on the rather silly full-metal sports pedals that were installed in it and put it streight into a wall. Lights smashed and front bumper bent right in.
We got that fixed and it wasnt too much hastle - though soon after my radiator fan completely stopped working. Another friend of mine got it going for a while but then it stopped again. I bought a second hand radiator and fan from ebay (which incidently turned out to be from a corsa and I had to use the old fan on the new radiator just to fit it in!) hoping replacing the switch on the radiator would make the fan auto come on again - it didnt. The fan works when directly hooked to the battery, but wont turn itself on when engine is hot
Then more recently there was a comedy crash. Friend driving up a steep hill soon after heavy winds we had experienced and apprantly ran over a "branch" that had blown down. It got caught in the wheel arch so he stopped and got out and saw this branch sticking out of the car. He pulled it out.. which disconnected the hand break somehow. Car rolls off down the hill with him running after it - he managed to get to the window and pull on the wheel making the car avoid a very nice lexus with a woman still in it but instead it smashed into a wall.
Rear of car? ruined.
Bumper cracked and basically destroyed - metal work crumpled. If claimed on insurance would of been immediate write off. Damage was just too bad. So, we didnt claim We took it to my friends garage in dorset and spent a long weekend working on the car. Beating it out ourselfs and then fiber glassing and then filler. Still needs another sand down and another coat of filler and then painting but it looks OK.
Thats my story! From bargin to wreck without me even driving it but hey guess it goes that way sometimes! XD The flip side is now i know its a write off i've been a little more flamboyant in what im willing to do to it. We couldnt get a red bumper for it so we bought the cheapest we had found and I sanded it down, filled it, sanded, primed and then painted it matt black. Looks lovely actually and i've decided im going to do the skirts in black as well. Maybe the roof too, undecided! But it certainly looks unique If I can make the car "go" for another year i'll be happy.
I'm wondering if anyone has any clues about the fan (I hope its not the ecu) and what AFFORDABLE mods I can do performance wise? Theres no point me pouring cash into this thing if it wont last much longer. I would be considering an engine swap and all sorts otherwise. But i'd like some experience tweaking what i've got so I can get my hands dirty and learn some stuff.
Heres a scarey thing: its losing water somewhere and we cant find where. I thought oh great, there goes the gasket. But there is no gunk under the engine cap at all, it looks fine - it runs great. But after a couple of trips the water is completely gone... but i see no drips! Completely confused. Will probably take it to a garage to be looked over (unless anyone has any ideas) and if the water problem can be solved and the fan made to work properly then I will put a new exhaust on and see what I can get out of this vecheal before it dies!
I have this exhaust sat in my garage boxed and new:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270391351529&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:GB:1123
but if the car cant be made to go I guess I sell that exhaust, sell the alloys, stereo, etc and look for a new car!
...sorry for writing so much.. I tend to get carried away!
-Dave
i'm new here so first off: hi! nice to meet you all
I own a 1995 tigra 1.4 - it has a bit of a sad story! When I bought the car I had never even sat in a drivers seat before, let alone drive any car. I came to driving late and I was 24 when I bought this.
My boss was selling it and I had been thinking of driving for a long time. I trust my boss completely so wasnt afraid of getting ripped off and he offered me a superb deal: £700 split up into 3 installments. The car came with aftermarket alloys (cost about 700 new in the first place), a silly-but-fun large exhaust, a £300 when-new blaplunkt stereo, lexus lights and a few other bits and bobs - so I couldnt say no! I bought it and took up driving lessons soon after.
Anyway, in the mean time I didnt want it to sit unused because I knew that was bad for it. So I allowed my friend to be insured on it and use it for work and university which really helped him out. However, he hasnt had the best of luck. The first accident came when he rushed into the car out of the rain, started it up and slipped on the rather silly full-metal sports pedals that were installed in it and put it streight into a wall. Lights smashed and front bumper bent right in.
We got that fixed and it wasnt too much hastle - though soon after my radiator fan completely stopped working. Another friend of mine got it going for a while but then it stopped again. I bought a second hand radiator and fan from ebay (which incidently turned out to be from a corsa and I had to use the old fan on the new radiator just to fit it in!) hoping replacing the switch on the radiator would make the fan auto come on again - it didnt. The fan works when directly hooked to the battery, but wont turn itself on when engine is hot
Then more recently there was a comedy crash. Friend driving up a steep hill soon after heavy winds we had experienced and apprantly ran over a "branch" that had blown down. It got caught in the wheel arch so he stopped and got out and saw this branch sticking out of the car. He pulled it out.. which disconnected the hand break somehow. Car rolls off down the hill with him running after it - he managed to get to the window and pull on the wheel making the car avoid a very nice lexus with a woman still in it but instead it smashed into a wall.
Rear of car? ruined.
Bumper cracked and basically destroyed - metal work crumpled. If claimed on insurance would of been immediate write off. Damage was just too bad. So, we didnt claim We took it to my friends garage in dorset and spent a long weekend working on the car. Beating it out ourselfs and then fiber glassing and then filler. Still needs another sand down and another coat of filler and then painting but it looks OK.
Thats my story! From bargin to wreck without me even driving it but hey guess it goes that way sometimes! XD The flip side is now i know its a write off i've been a little more flamboyant in what im willing to do to it. We couldnt get a red bumper for it so we bought the cheapest we had found and I sanded it down, filled it, sanded, primed and then painted it matt black. Looks lovely actually and i've decided im going to do the skirts in black as well. Maybe the roof too, undecided! But it certainly looks unique If I can make the car "go" for another year i'll be happy.
I'm wondering if anyone has any clues about the fan (I hope its not the ecu) and what AFFORDABLE mods I can do performance wise? Theres no point me pouring cash into this thing if it wont last much longer. I would be considering an engine swap and all sorts otherwise. But i'd like some experience tweaking what i've got so I can get my hands dirty and learn some stuff.
Heres a scarey thing: its losing water somewhere and we cant find where. I thought oh great, there goes the gasket. But there is no gunk under the engine cap at all, it looks fine - it runs great. But after a couple of trips the water is completely gone... but i see no drips! Completely confused. Will probably take it to a garage to be looked over (unless anyone has any ideas) and if the water problem can be solved and the fan made to work properly then I will put a new exhaust on and see what I can get out of this vecheal before it dies!
I have this exhaust sat in my garage boxed and new:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270391351529&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:GB:1123
but if the car cant be made to go I guess I sell that exhaust, sell the alloys, stereo, etc and look for a new car!
...sorry for writing so much.. I tend to get carried away!
-Dave